01/29/11 - Dr. Georgia Purdom

Recently, I came across a blog by Dr. Georgia Purdom that stopped me in my tracks. When you look at her credentials, she almost sounds legit, but the moment you read her blog that illusion falls apart. The "man behind the curtain" is apparently God. Now, there are many practicing scientists out there who believe in a god or several gods, however, they don't let it deplete all logic and critical thought from their brains. This woman does.

Now, aside from being riddled with the anti-homosexual bigotry that you'd generally expect from a fundamentalists, she takes it many steps further. She's decided to openly back a teacher by the name of John Freshwater who was fired from a school in Mount Vernon, Ohio for inappropriate religious activity. She makes sure she brings up how he was unfairly treated for simply telling children to question science and scientists. The problem is that she's plainly lying by omission.

The following was released from the National Center for Science Education (NCSE):

"On January 10, 2011, the Mount Vernon City Schools Board of Education voted 4-1 to terminate the employment of John Freshwater. A middle school science teacher in Mount Vernon, Ohio, Freshwater was accused of inappropriate religious activity in the classroom — including displaying posters with the Ten Commandments and Bible verses, branding crosses on the arms of his students with a high-voltage electrical device, and teaching creationism. After a local family sued Freshwater and the district in 2008, the board voted to begin proceedings to terminate his employment in the district. Finally, after administrative hearings that proceeded sporadically over two years, the referee presiding over the hearings issued his recommendation that the board terminate his employment with the district."

Now, note the line that jumps out at me: "branding crosses on the arms of his students with a high-voltage electrical device." I mean, who in good conscious, with any morals whatsoever, can support this guy? That's child abuse, plain and simple. But yet, Dr. Georgia Purdom backs him fully and sees him as being persecuted for his religion. Ya, he was persecuted in the same way Lawrence Murphy has been persecuted for his religious practice of raping 200 deaf children. This is completely absurd.

Now, after rolling in the dirt of Freshwater's misdeeds, Dr. Purdom goes even further, to my disgust. She begins speaking about the teaching of children and about her own Sunday school class. In this she claims that 

"I teach Sunday school for first through third grade, and over the next few weeks we’ll be discussing dinosaurs, radiometric dating methods, natural selection, and mutations. I teach them that what they learn in public school in regard to historical science concerning these ideas is not the truth. I teach them how to defend their faith and give answers from a young age starting with the Bible."

She speaks in this, and other posts about how the bible is a solid, proven historical document illustrating the history of the universe. In my opinion, Dr. Georgia Purdom should be committed. 

Her drivel of a blog can be found here

http://blogs.answersingenesis.org/blogs/georgia-purdom/2011/01/18/scientists-and-science-should-not-be-questioned/

In The News

This week in the news, I have an in memorium for you. I'd like to say a few words about David Kato, a gay rights activist from Uganda. He was killed last Wednesday in his home, beaten to death with a hammer. He was killed for being gay in Uganda. This is a crime mostly due to the teachers of evangelical missionaries from the United States that spread the hatred of homosexuality to the people of Uganda. This is yet another addition to the death count that we can attribute to the spread of fundamentalists bigotry and hate in the world. So here we bid farewell to a great man who fought for what was right and we live in the hope that others like David Kato will stand up to the hatred and bigotry. We live in the hope that others like David Kato will continue the fight.

Science and Technology

This week I'd like to showcase a contest put out by NASA for grade school children called the OPTIMUS PRIME Spinoff Contest. They are to create a video showcasing technology and applications from NASA as it applies here on earth. It's really an excellent exercise for children and fun to watch. You have until January 31 to vote for the best video. The voting link is

http://ipp.gsfc.nasa.gov/optimus/voting.php

Pseudoscience Review

I'd like to address something very dangerous. The product on my mind right now is called ALOREX. This is a vitamin supplement marketed primarily to celiac patients. The product is put out by Progressive Health as a vitamin supplement making essentially claims of replacing vitamins that celiacs tend to become deficient in due to their dietary restrictions. They even go so far as to add the disclaimer

"These statements have no been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure of prevent any disease."

This information can be found at http://www.progressivehealth.com/Catalog/alorex.htm

Now, when you go to the product's website, it makes similar claims, but without the disclaimer. It can be found here http://www.alorex.com/

One of the other differences is that the Alorex website includes a list of scientific studies. Now, these studies tend to revolve around the vitamins themselves and the deficiencies associated with celiac patients. None of them actually mention Alorex.

Now, this would be the same as any other naturopathic idiocy except that there is one more claim that violates even the loosest set of ethics a person should have. An Ebay auction listed here http://cgi.ebay.com/ALOREX-CELIAC-MANAGEMENT-GLUTEN-INTOLERANCE-90-CAPS-/380283922812?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item588ab0297c#ht_3308wt_914

makes the further claim of "No More Avoiding Grains." They go on to explain how, once you take Alorex, you, as a celiac, can then eat grains of all sorts without fear of adverse affects. This is a plain and utter lie.

This company is a danger to people and their claims can easily cause someone's death. Please join me in making sure they cannot continue to operate. Report them to the FDA at

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaProblem/ucm059315.htm

and make a difference. Save lives.

Religion

This week's logical fallacy is Ad Ignorantium; the argument from ignorance. The jist of this fallacy is that the arguer claims that since they cannot understand how something can possibly be true, so it must be false. This is used often from the creationist/intelligent design camp. They claim that they cannot understand how such complex life could have been the result of spontaneous mutations and natural selection over time, so it must be false. Their idea of the simpler option is "God did it." Ya, the easy way out.

Website Plug

Since we're coming on that time, I'd like to plug the Darwin Day website. Look for an event near you.

http://www.darwinday.org/

Upcoming Events

Saturday, February 12, 2001 is Darwin Day. This is the anniversary of Darwin's birthday. Look to your local Humanists or other secular organization for an event near you!

April 7-10, 2011 is the American Humanist Association 70th Anniversary Conference near Boston, MA. Get your tickets now at http://www.americanhumanist.org/

Brain Teaser

Last weeks' brain teaser had no correct answers. It was

Trivia:

What did Darwin originally wrongly categorize his finches as?

The answer is: Wren

This weeks' brain teaser is:

Trivia:

Name the well known computer pioneer who was once a notorious "phone hacker" in the pay phone days.

As always, send guesses to mbireality@gmail.com

Quote of the Week

This quote is the best response to the most common defense of CAM practices.

"Heroin also makes people feel better, but I wouldn't recommend using heroin." - James Randi

01/22/11 - Peaceful Protest

Earlier today in San Francisco, Walk for Life, a pro-life group staged a large protest against abortion. Apparently somewhere around 40,000 protesters joined this years' walk. The amazing thing about this, however, is not the numbers; it's the message. There was very little hate speech or violent propaganda, which is generally out of character for the pro-life crowd. They simply gave their message; no disturbing imagery, no threats, no insults.

Now, to disclaim, I fully and completely disagree with their message. I will fight against any legislation that seeks to take away the rights of any woman. I will also, however, fight for the right of free speech as well. These people protested in a way that we need to see more of in today's America. It was a breath of fresh air, all things considered.

We live in a time where politicians use a bullseye to point out their next political target. We have TV blow hards talking about taking up arms and killing the competition. We have creationists and anti-vaccination activists and all around science deniers making threats of every kind to people who are simply speaking the truth. So I say that we need more protesters like this. We need more people making their message heard without making those who hear it fear for their lives. Now that's what I call reform.

In The News


I have a bit of good news this week for our LGBT friends. A new federal regulation has been passed that mandates hospitals who participate Medicare and Medicaid to allow visitation rights to same-sex partners. So, congratulations my friends. It's a small step, but a good one.

For more information on how to be involved in LGBT rights and issues, check out the following:

PFLAG - Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=194&srcid=-2

HRC - Human Rights Campaign http://www.hrc.org/

Science and Technology


For this section of my blog, I'm going to do a short series addressing the misconceptions that creationists throw out regularly regarding evolutionary theory.

If we came from monkeys, then why are there still monkeys? I didn't come from no monkey!
This one is easy to address. Evolution doesn't actually say we came from monkeys. This is a very, very common misconception. It shows us that humans and monkeys are closely related and must have shared a common ancestor early in the evolutionary chain. We started with the same ancestor, then followed our own evolutionary paths with varied pressures and adapted into two distinct species.

And one of the best responses I've heard, from a YouTube comedian.
If evolution is true, then why aren't we still evolving?
Well, in your case, sir, I'd say personal choice.

Pseudoscience Review


One of the largest problems in America today, when it comes to pseudoscience, is the brain dead celebrities who promote it. We have people like Oprah pushing one homeopath or psychic to another. We have Tom Cruise and the Scientologist garbage that he pushes. This week, I challenge every reader to do their best to educate people in nothing more than the fact that these celebrities have no education, knowledge or experience that gives them the authority to speak on anything medical. Period.

Religion


The next logical fallacy on the list is the False Dichotomy. This is one that's very easy to fall into while debating and one which is used quite often, no matter the topic. This is when you make the claim that there are only two choice; either, or.

Example:
Either you're a Christian or you're a devil worshiper!

This is a good example because it's used often and it's obviously not a black and white case. You can easily be just a good, moral person who let Santa Clause go a long time ago.

Website Plug


Today I'm plugging a great organization called the American Humanist Association. They do a lot of good without God.

http://www.americanhumanist.org/

Upcoming Events


Sunday, February 13, 2001 is Darwin Day. This is the anniversary of Darwin's birthday. Look to your local Humanists or other secular organization for an event near you!

Brain Teaser


Last weeks' brain teaser had no correct answers. It was

Trivia:
What equation is generally recognized for its beauty in using pi, e, i, 1 and 0 all in the same equation?

The answer is: Euler's Identity

This weeks' brain teaser is

Trivia:
What did Darwin originally wrongly categorize his finches as?

As always, send guesses to mbireality@gmail.com

Quote of the Week


"The president of the United States has claimed, on more than one occasion, to be in dialogue with God. If he said that he was talking to God through his hairdryer, this would precipitate a national emergency. I fail to see how the addition of a hairdryer makes the claim more ridiculous or offensive." - Sam Harris

01/15/11 - The Mind of a Killer

Last weekend in Tuscon, AZ Jared Laughner attempted to assassinate Representative Gifford and managed to kill several others, including a 9 year old girl. The immediate media response was to take this into the political arena, blaming the violent rhetoric mostly from the GOP for this incident. Now, while the violent political speech in America today is a large issue, and pretty much unforgivable in its' own right, this is a huge leap.


When you consider a person such as Laughner, you have to look at the mind of a killer. Throughout the course of human evolution, our brains have developed structures that relate directly to social behavior. In the time of early humans, when it was found that a social structure such as a tribe, village, clan, etc was exceedingly useful for survival, we began to learn how to keep that society together. If we went around murdering our fellows whenever the whim took us, we, as humans, would never have made it this far. The common social morals that are needed for a cohesive society tend to span cultures, showing that they are more biological in nature.


When you find anomaly like Laughner, you need to look at the brain itself. He, like other brutal killers and other criminals throughout history, likely has a deficiency in the part of his brain that relates to social behavior, namely the fear of consequences.


The question everyone should be asking is...how can we prevent this in the future?


In The News


Well, there is yet another battle in this country about textbooks for public schools. Our, as usual, narrow minded tea party is at the forefront of yet another controversy. In Tennessee they are demanded to rewrite history to no longer include anything that paints our US history in what they consider a bad light. Any mistakes by known figures would be removed and any contributions of minorities would be taken out. They're trying to deny the fact that any founding father held slaves or did anything unseemly to their overly conservative sensibilities.


They're documents are quoted with


"No portrayal of minority experience in the history which actually occurred shall obscure the experience or contributions of the Founding Fathers, or the majority of citizens, including those who reached positions of leadership."


This is absurd. I implore my readers to do everything they can to combat this sort of movement. Get involved in your local school districts; even if you aren't a parent. This sort of willful ignorance is to the detriment of the next generation.


Science and Technology


One thing that caught my eye this week is that scientists have developed a way to take ultrafast image sequences of a nanomaterials. They're using an x-ray laser in pulses to record these structures and gain valuable research information.


Pseudoscience Review


Let's talk today about nurses. Nurses are very valuable in the medical field and provide an essential function. There is, however, an ongoing problem. Many nurses today decide to focus their degrees on complimentary and alternative medicine (CAM). This includes homeopathy, healing touch, herbal and homedic remedies, et al. These are things that they can often do on their own, without the doctor having to sign off on them, and they believe they're helping the patient. The problem is that none of these things work and even in the cases of some herbs, can be very detrimental to a sick patient. The fact that this sort of degree focus is even permitted is a travesty that allows garbage to be peddled in our hospitals. 


Religion


Starting this week, I'll be doing a critical thinking tool of the week for a short time to give everyone the tools they need to follow along with dissecting some major problems with religion. 


We'll start with a common fallacy used by many creationist or intelligent design proponents called the argument from authority. Now, being human with finite time available to us, this is something we all do. We rely on authoritative assessments of data all the time. This is valid to some extent; let me explain. If you want to use authority to back your argument, the person you're using must have the following attributes.


1. An authority must be an expert in their field, recognized as such by other experts in the field. (a PhD can often do this)
2. An authority must be in a field that is a valid field of knowledge in which there can be expert.
3. An authority must be speaking in their field of expertise.
4. Question an authority that goes against the consensus of their field of expertise.


Now, the way your ID proponents use this, is that they drum up often unrelated scientists to claim that evolution cannot be true. Now, when using an authority, remember that any single scientist can have odd ideas or beliefs and is definitely fallible. The best way to use an authority is to cite the consensus of the field that you're discussing. If your opponent then has an authority that goes against that consensus, it's a red flag to question their argument.


Website Plug


This is an amazing podcast on scientific skepticism.


http://www.theskepticsguide.org/


Upcoming Events


Nothing coming up quick, more to come.


Brain Teaser


Last weeks' brain teaser had no correct answers. It was


Word Scramble:
The theme is Academic Disciplines.

SOROOYLHEUNHPPI


The answer is: Neurophilosophy


This weeks' brain teaser is


Trivia:
What equation is generally recognized for its beauty in using pi, e, i, 1 and 0 all in the same equation?


As always, send guesses to mbireality@gmail.com


Quote of the Week


"A Subtle thought that is in error may yet give rise to fruitful inquiry that can establish truths of great value." - Isaac Asimov

01/08/11 - Autism and Vaccines

Welcome to the first installment of "Meanwhile, Back In Reality." Each week, I'll include the following sections:
Main Topic - This will be a key topic to discuss each week
In The News - Info and analysis on current events
Science and Technology - The latest in science and technology advances
Pseudoscience Review - The latest on the woo-woo
Religion - Select topics in the religious world
Website Plug - Here I'll plug another website that I find useful, interesting or just plain cool
I'll also include:
Upcoming Events - Info on events of interest to readers of this type of blog...you know who you are!
Brain Teaser - Email me your guesses within 1 week of the post. The first to answer correctly will be recognized in the next blog, along with the solution.
Quote of the Week - Words of wisdom from people who aren't me.

Let me know if there's anything else that you would like to see.


Main Topic


For my first topic, I thought I'd dive right in with a controversial topic; Autism and Vaccines. Since a study in 1998 by Andrew Wakefield, we've been inundated with vaccine deniers. They've had spokespeople such as Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey and even Hugh Hefner coming out with obscene claims based on the solid scientific evidence of "a mommy knows." This is absurd.

Now, one of the major problems and dangers here is that their rhetoric tends to infect otherwise reasonable people who take all this on authority without understanding the science of it. This means less people vaccinating their children. The danger here is that, as more and more people decide not to vaccinate their children, we begin to lose the herd immunity effect. Once that's gone, we see outbreaks of polio, measles, et al.

There is, however, a new silver lining. My health news daily has reported that the British Journal of Medicine has declared that study an "elaborate fraud." This is great, even though it's something that actual scientists and medical practitioners have known for years.

Remember, when a celebrity makes a claim, always check the science behind it. They are not authorities in anything outside of their profession and should never be accepted as such.

In The News


Well, the house is officially crawling with GOP led by John Boehner as speaker. They campaigned wit promises of more jobs and cutting government spending. Now, they're prepared to show us none of that. The only solid plans they have so far are to repeal many of Obama's initiatives like healthcare, environmental policies and food safety laws. Unfortunately, they've given no indication of any alternative plans. Each of those initiatives would create new jobs. Where are the job creating initiatives of the republican party? It seems to me that they're more interested in stopping Obama then in any value of those initiatives or in helping the American people.

Science and Technology


There's a lot of great stuff lately in science and tech, but one thing I keep coming back to is the Airpod. It just fascinates me. This is a new concept car that looks like a matchbox car crossed with a lady bug. The unique part is that it runs on compressed air. This would be fantastic as an alternative to using fossil fuels. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for more updates on it.

Pseudoscience Review


Homeopathy is horribly detrimental within the medical world. The key idea here is to take a substance, in general using the like cures like idea, and dilute it in water as a cure for various illnesses. The problem, which was pointed out to the homeopathic practitioners, is that they dilute it to the point that there is no longer an active ingredient in the water. They were oddly OK with this, because, according to them, the water "remembers" the substance that was the diluted into it. This is pure garbage. The danger is that they make health claims that cause people to turn to "all natural" homeopathy instead of real scientific medicine.

Religion


I just have a short note to start off this section. I'll get into more in depth studies later.

Have you ever looked at how a devoutly religious person handles situations? Generally, when this goes really well, they thank god. When things go really bad, they blame someone for their misfortune; whether it be some other godless person, a co-worker, family member, etc. Personally, I prefer to take responsibility for my actions; good and bad.

Website Plug


This is a really great group promoting good education. Check them out!

http://www.textbookleague.org/

Upcoming Events
The JREF Amazing meeting as well as the Humanist Convention are coming in April. More info to follow!

Brain Teaser


Word Scramble:
The theme is Academic Disciplines.

SOROOYLHEUNHPPI

Quote of the Week


Knowing a great deal is not the same as being smart; intelligence is not the information alone but also judgement, the manner in which information is collected and used. - Carl Sagan

01/08/11 - Introduction

Welcome to "Meanwhile, Back In Reality." This blog will cover a wide range of topics in religion, science, politics and more. I'll be posting at least weekly, if not more. If you have any suggestions or ideas about how the blog is presented or just a topic you want me to cover, feel free to email me at neurotraveller.philosophies@gmail.com. Thank you.

Neuro